First Novelist Award

About the Award

The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award honors an outstanding debut novel published in the preceding calendar year. Symbolized by a three-dimensional compass, the award is a tribute to writers who have navigated their way through the maze of imagination and delivered a great read, taking the reader someplace new.

Winning novelists have written books that may be funny or sad, sarcastic or heartrending, but each is powerful enough in its own way to have moved initial readers and final judges toward the conclusion that, among a field of roughly a hundred submissions annually, its writer has achieved something notable and enduring.

‌

The award is named for Richmond writer James Branch Cabell, who achieved fame in the early twentieth century through novels such as Jurgen, a sensationalistic historical fantasy.

How the Award Works

Selecting a winner is a lengthy process. Twice a year, the administrative team sends out a nationwide call for submissions from publishers, editors, agents, and writers themselves. The first round of evaluations is made by volunteer readers from across the university and the Richmond community. Their rankings and feedback guide the First Novelist Committee toward three or four finalists, and from that short list, three nationally prominent judges, including the winner of the award from the previous year, choose the recipient of the award.

During the annual event, the winning author and two others involved in the writing and publishing worlds, typically the author's agent and editor, appear at a public reading and Q&A session, followed by a book signing and reception, that focus on the creation, publication, and promotion of a first novel. Travel expenses to and lodging in Richmond for the author and the additional speakers are provided, and the author receives a $5,000 cash prize.

Winner Justin Torres reads from his novel, We the Animals, at the eleventh annual award event.

‌

Winning novels are used as teaching tools for aspiring writers throughout VCU.